updated 09:05 pm EST, Thu December 6, 2012

July Facebook post could net Netflix a civil claim

Netflix and its CEO Reed Hastings have been informed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they could face a civil claim over a post a statement Hastings posted to Facebook over the summer. This past July, Hastings' Facebook page announced Netflix had surpassed a billion hours of user streaming for the month of June, the first time the service has done so in its history. That post, though, may have violated regulations regarding fair disclosure, the SEC has reportedly told Netflix.

Bloombergreports that Hastings' post was seen by 200,000 followers. The regulatory agency alleges that the post could constitute selective disclosure of material information, which might justify a civil claim.

In a statement, Netflix pointed to the fact that the company had previously intimated that it was closing in on a billion hours of viewing in June. Furthermore, according to Netflix, the billion-hour total is not "material" to investors. The company remains "optimistic that this can be cleared up quickly through the SEC's review process."